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Two Most Important Days

Kevin Blackburn

Blog #10 of 17

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April 19th, 2015 - 04:31 PM

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Two Most Important Days

“The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.” ..... Mark Twain


I read this quote at the beginning of a movie we rented recently and it caused me to take pause and think about the very questions it seems to ask. I get the day we are born it is important not just because it brings you into being and brings joy to your parents and family but it is the beginning of the person that may change the world or may not but without doubt the personal that will have some impact on the world.


The person you become and how and what makes you that person is a story for later. But the second day the day you find out or realize why is much more obscure and often more difficult to not only understand but accept. This part is a bit Zen like in ways. For me the realization of the WHY? has had many meanings and seems to changed or evolved over time.



For me the why has over time had many answers earlier in my life at age 17 while an EMT I thought it was to serve the community to help and maybe save others, Then in the USAF I felt it was to serve my nation to be part of a brotherhood of military members that served our fellow man by protecting our country and way of life and the rights we hold precious and dear. Then again after the USAF as a firefighter Medic at age 26 I fell back to how I felt as a young EMT and my feelings of community and caring for others and something bigger than myself.


Now at 40 and after many years as a commercial photographer and an artist I feel like I am here to share my art to improve lives through art be it in teaching kids at a workshop at the botanical gardens or a class for adults teaching the joy of photography and the creative process. It may even be in the sharing and selling of my work and other artist work in our new gallery sharing art for everyone to take home to in some way improve their lives maybe trough the kids programs we have planned for the gallery to nurture art in the kids in the region and working with local schools to keep art of all kinds important.


In the end after all of the "reasons" I have felt answer WHY I am here they all point to one simple fact I really feel like I am here to serve others to put others before me and to make a difference in a positive way in others lives no matter the way I do it!“The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.” ..... Mark Twain



I read this quote at the beginning of a movie we rented recently and it caused me to take pause and think about the very questions it seems to ask. I get the day we are born it is important not just because it brings you into being and brings joy to your parents and family but it is the beginning of the person that may change the world or may not but without doubt the personal that will have some impact on the world.


The person you become and how and what makes you that person is a story for later. But the second day the day you find out or realize why is much more obscure and often more difficult to not only understand but accept. This part is a bit Zen like in ways. For me the realization of the WHY? has had many meanings and seems to changed or evolved over time.


For me the why has over time had many answers earlier in my life at age 17 while an EMT I thought it was to serve the community to help and maybe save others, Then in the USAF I felt it was to serve my nation to be part of a brotherhood of military members that served our fellow man by protecting our country and way of life and the rights we hold precious and dear. Then again after the USAF as a firefighter Medic at age 26 I fell back to how I felt as a young EMT and my feelings of community and caring for others and something bigger than myself.


Now at 40 and after many years as a commercial photographer and an artist I feel like I am here to share my art to improve lives through art be it in teaching kids at a workshop at the botanical gardens or a class for adults teaching the joy of photography and the creative process. It may even be in the sharing and selling of my work and other artist work in our new gallery sharing art for everyone to take home to in some way improve their lives maybe trough the kids programs we have planned for the gallery to nurture art in the kids in the region and working with local schools to keep art of all kinds important.


In the end after all of the "reasons" I have felt answer WHY I am here they all point to one simple fact I really feel like I am here to serve others to put others before me and to make a difference in a positive way in others lives no matter the way I do it!

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